Domestic sales of the Brewing and Soft Drinks industry 2003: Fall in domestic beer sales

Press release 22 January 2004

Domestic sales by members of the Finnish Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry 2003 

Fall in domestic beer sales

Domestic sales of the members of the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry totalled 834.9 million litres in 2003. This was 3.0% lower than the year before. Domestic beer sales were down 2.4% in spite of positive development during the Christmas season. Sales of soft drinks showed the sharpest drop, which even the short hot spell in the summer could not help. The development of sales was influenced to some extent by the advent of a new trade group on the Finnish market.

Cool weather in the first part of the summer had a strong effect on beer sales. Domestic beer sales were down 2.4% for the year as a whole, totalling 403.7 million litres in 2003. This was 9.8 million litres less than the year before. Beer sales fell by a full 9.4% in Alko shops and 4.8% in restaurants. The drop in retail shops was only 1%.

The drop in sales of strong beer in particular suggests an increase in private imports from countries with lower beer tax. Finnish consumers may fall into a pattern of buying large stocks of beer from cheaper countries, especially Estonia, two or three times a year and making only small supplementary purchases in Finland.

Long drink sales rose by 7.2% and totalled 24.2 million litres in 2003. Growth mainly involved strong long drinks containing over 4.7% alcohol by volume. Cider sales fell for the second straight year but still exceeded long drink sales considerably, totalling 45.5 million litres in 2003. This was 5.0 million litres less than the year before.

Sales of soft drinks fell by 4.5% or 14.1 million litres compared with the year before and totalled 296.8 million litres. Sugar-free beverages accounted for 27% of this figure.

Sales of mineral waters rose by 1.7% or 1.1 million litres and totalled 64.7 million litres in 2003.

DOMESTIC SALES 2003

Drink	2003 mill.l	2002 mill.l.	Change mill.l.	Change %
Beer, max. 2,8 alc.vol.	10,1	11,9	-1,8	-15,0
Beer, max. 4,7 alc.vol.	367,9	373,7	-5,8	-1,6
Beer, above 4,7 alc.vol.	25,7	28,0	-2,3	-8,2
Beer total	403,7	413,6	-9,9	-2,4
Cider	45,5	50,5	-5,0	-9,9
Long drink	24,1	22,5	1,6	7,2
Soft drink	296,8	310,9	-14,1	-4,5
Mineral water	64,7	63,6	1,1	1,7
Sales total	834,9	861,1	-26,2	-3,0

Source: Member companies of the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry. The statistics do not include sales by actors outside the Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry, nor private imports of brewery products, which are not statistically recorded.

Additional information:
Communications Manager Katri Tuulensuu, tel. +358 (0)9 1488 7601, GSM +358 (0)40 777 1938
Managing Director Risto Saarinen, tel. +358 (0)9 1488 71

The Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry promotes the interests of producers of beer, cider, long drinks, soft drinks and mineral waters in Finland. Its members are Oy Hartwall Ab, Olvi Oyj, Pirkanmaan Uusi Panimo - PUP Oy and Oy Sinebrychoff Ab. The Federation of the Brewing and Soft Drinks Industry operates in connection with the Finnish Food and Drink Industries' Federation and is among the three largest industries in the food and drink branch in terms of the value of production.